In a move that could inflame partisan tensions over both automatic budget cuts and efforts to move immigration reform legislation through the Congress, the Obama Administration has started releasing some illegal immigrants now being held by the feds.

This was the story from the Associated Press earlier today that confirmed illegal immigrants were being released from federal detention facilities:

A week before mandatory budget cuts go into effect across the government, the Department of Homeland Security has started releasing illegal immigrants being held in immigration jails across the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday.

Gillian Christensen, an ICE spokeswoman, said ICE has reviewed "several hundred cases" of immigrants being held in jails around the country and released them in the last week. They have been "placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release," she said.

Christensen said the agency's "priority for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety." She did not say how released immigrants were selected or what jails they were released from. Tuesday's announcement of jail releases is the first tangible impact of the looming budget cuts for DHS.

The move by federal immigration authorities rankled Republicans on Capitol Hill, who denounced the action; this was a statement from Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), who is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

"It’s abhorrent that President Obama is releasing criminals into our communities to promote his political agenda on sequestration. By releasing criminal immigrants onto the streets, the Administration is needlessly endangering American lives. It also undermines our efforts to come together with the Administration and reform our nation’s immigration laws. Unfortunately, this Administration has a poor record of enforcing our immigration laws and has routinely sought to undermine them," Goodlatte said in a statement.

Other Republicans joined in questioning the release.

"Was this really the only way to save money?" asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), just hours before he was set to meet with President Obama at the White House about immigration reform.